In Sickness and In Schemes
by skimmingsurfaces
Summary: "I think there's something wrong with the mouse."  A sharp pain in his tail alerted Brain to the antics of his cage mate, the mouse the scientists were concerned about, and quite frankly, the lack of sense concerned Brain as well. Shameless PatB h/c fluff
1. Part 1

In Sickness and In Schemes

"I think there's something wrong with the mouse."

A pair of Acme lab scientists loomed over the cage housing Pinky and the Brain. The short mouse with the enlarged frontal lobe ignored them, attempting to catch up on some sleep before they sent him through another maze for their own amusement. He purposely failed them, what good would running around a maze in search of cheese do for him? He had more pertinent things to think about, such as his plans for world domination. A sharp pain in his tail alerted Brain to the antics of his cage mate, the mouse the scientists were concerned about, and quite frankly, the lack of sense concerned Brain as well. Pinky was running around in circles, singing to himself as he accidentally stepped on Brain's crooked tail again.

"Pinky! Stop it, I'm trying to sleep!" He hissed, tucking his tail protectively beneath him.

"Narf! Sorry, Brain!" Even with this apology, Pinky didn't stop prancing around. "I can't help it! I just have this urge to run around silly willy!"

Brain rolled his eyes. It wasn't a new thing, Pinky often ran around in circles for no apparent reason. He assumed it was to relieve himself of excess energy that he couldn't rid himself of in the day when they were required to stay in their cage. The scientists usually ignored it, but they must have been terribly bored on this particular day, for they were intrigued by Pinky's behavior.

"Think he's having a fit?" The scientist with glasses asked of his colleague. "He does this every day. Ever since the gene splicer."

The female scientist tapped her chin. "It's possible. He could have too much adrenaline."

"Could this be the first signs of epilepsy?" Glasses inquired, shifting his spectacles on his nose.

She hummed thoughtfully. "It's hard to tell. He's not seizing. It could just be hyperactivity, though I don't know how long this behavior has been going on for."

_Too long._ Brain thought wearily.

The pair watched Pinky scamper about until the little mouse had absolutely no energy left. He collapsed on the cage floor, panting heavily with a few giggles punctuating them. The hutch opened and the female scientist gripped Pinky by the tail. He started, but had no time to react before he was airborne and ensnared within human hands.

"Let's run some tests on him. Take a look at his brain activity." Glasses suggested.

_Good luck with that._ Brain mused to himself, watching his companion get carried away. As lab mice, they were often whisked away for tests and observation, so it was not alarming that Pinky got to leave the cage for a bit. In fact, the Brain was quite pleased since this meant he'd get a more satisfying nap.

#

When Brain awoke the lab was dark. He blinked, startled that he'd actually slept the day away. "Though I suppose this is a blessing, after all, these nocturnal habits have certainly taken their toll on my ability to think clearly." He decided, shuffling over to the cage door.

The clock on the VCR read 6:37 PM. Perfect, the lab closed at 5:00, so he could now get to work on his plans for the night. Taking his twisted tail in paw, he unlocked the cage door and swung out.

"Come, Pinky. We must prepare for tonight. My nap has put us behind schedule, but no matter. I can easily make up the time, but we must work quickly." Brain padded over to where the sheets of paper and writing instruments were kept, grabbing his stubby pencil on the way. The lack of response gave the short mouse cause for stopping, however, and he looked over his shoulder back at the cage. "Pinky?"

On normal days, Brain didn't get to sleep for as long as he'd like to thanks to two factors: one being the scientists and two being Pinky and his inability to keep out of trouble for longer than two seconds. If the lab closed at 5:00, then that left Pinky with an hour and a half to bug Brain, but since Brain slept through this…

"Pinky! Answer me this instance! I don't have time for your foolishness tonight!" Brain hollered, folding his arms across his small, white furry chest and tapping his foot impatiently. "And why didn't you wake me up? We've wasted precious time! Pinky!"

Silence answered the Brain's demands.

"Pinky!"

The simple mouse was nowhere to be found. Brain wrung his paws together, trying to ignore the culmination of dread, concern, and uncertainty pooling in his belly. There was a logical explanation, yes, certainly. The scientists just forgot to bring Pinky back. It could happen. Or Pinky got lost. That was very reasonable.

Yet it still ate at him.

Never had the pair not been reunited at the end of the day, no matter how many experiments they had to undergo without the other. There had not been a single night thus far where they weren't together.

Brain glanced at his pencil and plans. He didn't need Pinky to fulfill the task at hand, of course not, he just didn't want to have to deal with the tears that would surely fall once Pinky realized he'd taken over the world without him. It was only right that Pinky got to share in the revelry as he was crowned ruler of the world, he certainly didn't want him to miss that.

So he'd take the night off. He and Pinky could take over the world tomorrow night.

#

The next day had almost come to its close before Pinky returned to the cage. He had a small bald patch on his thigh, raw and red from injections. Once free from the lab assistant's hand, he shot them an irritable look before darting over to Brain.

"Brain, oh Brain! It was awful! Just awful!" Pinky wailed, hiding behind the smaller mouse as best as he could.

Brain attempted to get a closer look at his friend's thigh, they normally weren't shaved for the kind of testing they were used for, but this proved to be difficult with the other mouse hanging onto him and moving whenever he moved. "Pinky, what did they do to you?"

"I'll tell you what they did! They didn't give me any food pellets!" He sobbed. "I haven't eaten since… umm… the last time I ate!"

"Brilliant deduction, my friend." Brain grabbed hold of Pinky's nose, keeping him from the circles he was spinning around Brain's head. "Hold still, why did they shave you?"

Pinky blinked. "They didn't shave me, Brain, I never had a beard."

"No, you ninny. Your leg, there's fur missing from your right leg."

The two mice glanced at the patch at the same time, then Pinky snorted out a laugh. "Oh, you're right! Narf! How'd that happen?"

Brain conked the taller mouse on the head. "Clearly no lasting damage has been inflicted upon you. Your fur will grow back in time. Now, come Pinky, we must prepare for tonight."

"Gee, Brain, what're we going to do tonight?" Pinky followed obediently as Brain led him to the blueprints he had hidden in the cage.

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky…" Brain grabbed his pencil as the scientists locked up for the night. "Try to take over the world!"

#

Midway through Brain's latest scheme of taking over the world via increasing levels of chlorine in the water supply, Pinky felt strangely woozy. His eyelids felt as heavy as anvils and his entire body ached as if he had been running on his wheel all day long. When he failed to throw the switch to add some sort of mind control serum to the water, Brain finally noticed the lack of vivacity in his friend.

"Pinky!" Brain hollered, hopping down from his mechanical wonder. "What is the meaning of this? I gave you simple instructions even a bean bag chair could follow! 'Throw the switch when I tell you to.' Can your feeble mind not even process that much?"

The shorter mouse stormed over to his companion, who yawned sleepily from his position on the edge of the city's main water line where they had set up shop. Brain grabbed hold of Pinky's nose and yanked him down to eye level. Pinky's vision swam, everything blurring together like a colorful kaleidoscope.

"Everything's spinning, Brain. Whirly twirly swirly… Narf!" Pinky singsonged.

Brain rolled his eyes. "The only thing spinning is the hamster wheel that is your brain." He released the other mouse and turned around to sulk. "Minus the hamster. Another night ruined. Come, Pin- Pinky?"

When Brain let go of his nose, Pinky swayed momentarily before falling flat on his face. Not unusual save for the lack of giggling. He attempted to get up, but the heaviness had moved from his eyes to his limbs. Even his tail was incapable of swishing back and forth.

"Brain, I don't feel so good…" Pinky garbled out, words sounded so funny to his ears and his tongue tasted like salt.

Eyeing his friend in what looked like concern (but would undoubtedly be denied by The Brain himself), he helped him to his feet and tried to steady him despite being significantly shorter. "You don't look so good either, Pinky. Come on, let's get back to the lab and get you to bed. This must be some sort of side effect from earlier. You just need to sleep it off."

"I am really sleepy, Brain…" Pinky rubbed his eyes as he allowed himself to be led by The Brain. "My feet feel like sand… I think the Sand Man missed my eyes. Poit."

After quite a while of stumbling about, and an aching tail on Brain's end, the pair of lab mice finally returned home. Brain got Pinky all settled in on his bed of cedar chips, then set about cleaning up his botched plans from the evening. From his corner of the cage, Pinky tried to fall asleep, but a burning and itching in his thigh kept him from it. He whimpered, tossing and turning to try and alleviate some discomfort.

"Pinky…" Brain sighed exasperatedly. "Just close your eyes and lie still."

"But Brain, I can't!" Pinky whined, pawing the floor of their cage in agitation. "My leg hurts!"

Setting down his supplies, Brain shuffled over to Pinky and inspected the shaved patch again. It was still an angry red with little blisters peppering the injection site. Brain frowned, leaving his cagemate's side to fetch a few shards of ice and a scrap of paper. He formed a makeshift ice pack and placed it on Pinky's thigh.

"This should reduce the inflammation." Brain informed him, allowing his free hand to pat Pinky's back reassuringly. "Feel any better?"

"A little." Pinky nodded, curled in on himself. "Brain? What's wrong with me?"

Brain swallowed thickly. "Like I said before, it's just a side effect of some sort of vaccination you must've received earlier today. You'll be fine in the morning."

"You're so smart, Brain. If I were that smart, then I'd never be scared of anything, just like you… narf…" Pinky mumbled, rubbing his head against Brain's hip. "Will you stay with me? Please?"

Regarding his sick friend while fighting back the lump of emotions blossoming in his chest, Brain set the ice pack down and curled up next to Pinky. "Well, alright, but just for tonight."

Pinky nodded, his tail wrapped around Brain who draped an arm over the other mouse. Both falling asleep to the lull of each other's heartbeats.

#

Brain woke to a startling heat source beside him. Pinky's fur was damp and his face flushed, his breath coming in quiet pants. Laying a paw against his forehead, Brain frowned as he deduced that Pinky had developed a fever sometime in the night. Guilt pricked at his insides - he'd told his friend that he'd be feeling better come morning, not worse.

Despite the overwhelming heat radiating from his body, Pinky shivered violently in his sleep. His legs and arms tucked under him in order to preserve warmth. Suddenly, his blue eyes snapped open wide, pupils the size of pin pricks.

"B-brain." His voice clipped and clogged. "I'm… My stomach...! It's all whirly twirly inside!" He clamped his mouth shut.

Brain raised an eyebrow, confused but concerned about the pallor of his friend. "What do you mean Pinky? What's wrong?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Pinky managed to blubber out.

He struggled to stand, but the vertigo that ensued had him even sicker. Brain steadied him, then sat him down with orders to stay put. The large headed mouse darted out of their cage in search of a container of some kind. He grabbed a thimble, one that they often used to carry around liquids in and lined it with some cellophane left behind by one of the scientists. He got back to the cage just in time, shoving it into Pinky's arms just in time for him to lose his lunch.

Brain wrinkled his nose in disgust, trying to block out the smell, sound, and look of the vomit. He rubbed Pinky's back as he finished and took the proffered thimble of puke. Leaving only to throw out the disgusting mess, Brain returned to find Pinky sprawled out on the floor of their cage.

"I made a mess, Brain." Pinky whimpered, looking up at him with a half-lidded gaze. "Poit."

"Yes, but don't worry, it's all cleaned up now." Brain assured him, trying to move the larger mouse into a more comfortable position. "Feeling any better?"

Pinky nodded weakly, but withered under Brain's gaze and ended up shaking his head. "Narf… my nose hurts."

"Your nose?" Brain tilted his head in confusion.

"Mhmm. And my tail. And my ears. And my toes. And my fingernails. And my eyelashes." Pinky would've gone on, but Brain held up a paw.

"I get the picture, Pinky. Everything hurts." Brain rubbed his forehead.

"I'm really cold, Brain." Brain looped an arm around the cold mouse's shoulders and rubbed up and down to generate some heat. "Thank you."

Pinky's voice was quieter than normal. Brain found it to be disconcerting, but said nothing about it. His excitable friend would surely bounce right back from whatever this was. "You're welcome," he murmured.

#

A sneeze from behind him drew Brain out of his ponderings. He had been pouring over the American Journal of Veterinary Research for the past hour or so, trying to pinpoint some clue so he could properly diagnose his ailing associate. However, he'd come up with nothing other than recognizing these symptoms as being similar, if not identical, to those of the human flu.

As far as the AVMA was concerned, a mouse with the flu wasn't exactly high-brow research material worthy of being placed in their scientific journal. Not to mention Brain himself thought it to be somewhat unlikely that Pinky had been affected by a strain of the flu. The scientists never bothered testing their immunizations on them.

Unless it was a new version? Brain looked at Pinky, brows furrowed. No, it just didn't quite fit. "Pinky? Do you need more tissues?" He noted with some disgust that their cage was slowly becoming a home for wayward Kleenex. He supposed he should clean them out...

Pinky's sniffles could be heard all throughout the lab, his airways clogged and irritating. Too tired to be put off from his new tissue home, he simply sucked it a deep breath through his nose as his heavy-lidded gaze sought out Brain's location. "I think so, Brain... but I don't think I can put training wheels on a monkey..."

To him it made perfect sense. Though, he did wonder how the monkey got into their cage in the first place. His dull blue eyes slipped shut, it was much easier not to look at things, the throbbing in between his ears lessened and his stomach didn't churn so violently. Even though dehydration would soon prove to be an issue, so far his body was fighting off even the smallest sips of water. He had not tried in some time, the thought of crawling over to the water bottle gave him reason to groan, his limbs already protesting even though they had yet to endure much activity.

Brain considered it a great act of kindness to not point out the ludicrousness of that statement, let alone resisting the natural urge to bop him on the head. Besides, Pinky was undoubtedly suffering more than enough to make up for it. With a sigh at the discomfort that thought caused in his gut, Brain rose and tip-toed around the cage. He quickly gathered up tissues and shoved them into the waste-bin that lay just below the counter their cage rested on.

A check of the tissue box showed that he had enough for the time being, so the large-headed mouse made his way over to his friend to gently check his temperature again. Still too high. Worry filled him, was quickly batted back. "You'll have to try and drink something soon, Pinky." Even if it wasn't exactly the flu, fluids should help.

Another groan wormed it's way out of Pinky's chest, not consciously aware of voicing his displeasure to the mouse he normally tried his best to please. He struggled to open his eyes, blearily attempting to focus on Brain. "I'll get all messy again." He mumbled, his throat still burning from the last time he tried to drink and eat. Food pellets didn't even sound appetizing to the unwell mouse.

Pinky reached up to tug on Brain's fur. "Stay with me, please Brain? Don't make me go to the water bottle."

Wincing a little at the tug, Brain grabbed Pinky's hand with the intention of keeping it away. He ended up holding on at the miserable tone. "I wasn't going to make you go to the water bottle, Pinky. I'll fill up a thimble for you. And it's alright if you only get sick again; I'll clean you up."

Managing a nod, Pinky let go of Brain reluctantly. His arm was getting tired. Everything was tired. Had he not been so exhausted, this sluggish behavior would have startled the normally hyperactive mouse. Instead of wanting to jump around or run on the wheel, all he wanted to do was sleep.

It did startle Brain, though, feeling Pinky's grip go lax. After a brief hesitation, he gently patted the mouse's head. "Don't go to sleep just yet," he ordered and managed to get part of a tissue into Pinky's hand. "Blow your nose. I'll return shortly."

Obediently, Pinky raised the tissue to his red nose and tried his best to get it unstuffed. When he blew, the rest of his head felt like it was being stuffed with pillows. Letting the Kleenex fall beside him, he rolled from his back to his stomach and back again, trying to find the most comfortable position. He had to be careful of his thigh, still tender and irritated. He'd learned the hard way that rolling too hard on that part of his body hurt almost as much as the time he'd been electrocuted off the radio tower Brain built in the backyard. Although, that had been preferable to seducing their neighbor. While Pinky was fond of Mr. Sultana, he didn't want to become Mrs. Sultana.

"I would get to wear a lovely dress... poit..." He sighed, deciding that sleeping on his stomach was more comfortable than his back. "I liked the wet suit though... I'll wear that to the party."

It sounded as if there were a party of elephants parading around the lab. Pinky glanced over to see what the commotion was about, getting an eyeful of two giant, white blurs.

The scientist with the glasses peered into the cage. "A definite decrease in activity. I'd say this did the trick."

"I'm not so sure about that." His colleague mused, more to herself than him. "Doesn't he look a little sick to you?"

Glasses shrugged. "A reaction to the depressant we gave him is to be expected, and a rise in temperature is one of the side effects. It'll be gone by the morning, I'm sure of it."

She frowned minutely. "He looks worse than the other mice did."

"Every mouse will react differently. As long as he's keeping hydrated and nourished the medicine will work just fine and he'll be a normal, less hyperactive mouse." Glasses assured his companion as they left the lab, locking up for the night.

Pinky squeezed his eyes shut, their conversation fell upon him like a hammer. All his hard work to keep the ache in his brain to a minimum had been undone in a matter of seconds.

With the lights off, Brain emerged from the drawer he'd hidden himself in upon the scientists arrival in the room. Irritating fools. After brushing himself off, he plucked up his thimble and made his way back to the cage. He only sighed when he saw that Pinky's eyes were closed. "Pinky?" he said quietly, resting a hand over the feverish mouse's brow.

"Mmm..." The dark hurt his eyes much less, so for Brain he forced them open to prove he hadn't gone against his order. "Not sleeping, Brain..." He croaked out, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes for a reason beyond him. "They were really loud... narf..." The last bit was no more than a whisper, as if tacked on to the end only to serve as a reminder to Pinky.

"Yes," Brain agreed, absently running his fingers through Pinky's fur. Seeing tears in the optimistic mouse's eyes made him incredibly uncomfortable. "Just give me one more moment, Pinky. After you have a drink, you can rest."

"My head hurts... and you didn't even bop me..." Pinky honestly wasn't sure which was more terrible of the two, he did enjoy being bopped on the head. Probably not at the present moment, any movement involving his head sparked pain of some kind. Except for the feel of Brain's fingers rubbing against his head, it soothed him and took his mind off how uncomfortable he was. Slowly, he raised himself up so he could properly drink from the thimble.

"I won't bop you in this state, Pinky. What on earth do you take me for?" Rolling his eyes, Brain settled himself beside Pinky, looping an arm around the mouse to help him. "Drink slowly."

Pinky leaned into Brain as he felt the thimble's edge against his lips. They were dry and chapped, the water made them feel much better. He sipped slowly, just as Brain had asked, fighting back the wince that traveled up his spine as the liquid hit his empty stomach. Still, he knew it was important that he finish the whole thimble, and his friend had gone to all the trouble to get it for him. The least he could do was drink it without complaining.

When he drained the thimble, Pinky pulled his face away to bury it in Brain's side. His stomach felt all sloshy and full, but his headache seemed to be easing up a little. "What's wrong with me?" He mumbled, still aware of the difference in temperature between himself and his cagemate, Brain felt much cooler compared to himself.

The Brain wasn't entirely certain yet, which irritated him greatly. "You're just sick," he replied, hoping the simple response would be enough. "You'll be alright with, ah, plenty of fluids," he improvised. "And sleep."

Pinky hummed in response, satisfied with the answer due to his faith and confidence in Brain's worldly knowledge. If anyone knew what was wrong with him, it'd be The Brain. While he wanted to make sure he wasn't going to throw up again, then mention of sleep reminded him of how tired he was. Cuddling up against Brain, Pinky sighed and sniffed once before drifting off with the hopes he'd feel much better when he next woke up.

Brain opened his mouth to complain, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He managed to set the empty thimble down - made a mental note to congratulate Pinky on drinking it all - before gently easing the mouse back down. He rose to pick up a blanket the feverish mouse had kicked aside earlier and wrapped it around him, the checking of his fever compulsory.

It just didn't seem to be going down and Pinky just didn't seem to be getting any better. It had only been one day, but there was no telling what the scientists had given his friend. He just hoped that it would be over soon. He did detest seeing him in this state.

He stilled suddenly, a hand pausing just below Pinky's ear, where he'd been idly scratching. He detested it because they were behind on taking over the world - that was all. They were losing precious world domination time. But still he left his hands where it was for a moment more before leaving the sickly creature to return to his texts. He _would_ figure out what was occurring.

#

There were too many options. It was an incredibly irritating thing to realize that Pinky's vague symptoms lent themselves to all sort of various diseases and sicknesses. Some of them a lot more fatal than The Brain would've liked. He didn't completely cross them off his list of possibilities, but he decided that it would be better to not dwell on them, particularly in his current state of exhaustion. The entire night had been spent, not with the world domination schemes typical of his time, but with research.

Pinky could have almost anything and it was unbelievably frustrating that assisting his friend was causing such difficulty. Feet dragging slightly, eyelids drooping, Brain made his way into the cage as the sun was rising through the windows. The scientists would be in soon and he couldn't be discovered pouring over veterinary texts. He rolled up his list of possibilities and tucked it into an old sardine can that lay in the corner of their lab; it held other various sheets of paper - unfinished plans, vague ideas for what changes would be made once he was the ultimate ruler... a drawing Pinky had given him ages ago.

He touched the old scrap of paper, unfurled it carefully. Very poor quality in professional artistic terms, but that had never truly mattered. Pinky's gifts had always been simple things, things given straight from his overly large heart. Brain felt a shiver along his spine as he looked at the old drawing of two only vaguely familiar mice to the artist himself, curled up and shivering despite his blanket.

With a frown, he rolled the picture up and tucked it away, added the list of possible diseases to the pile, and closed the can before going to Pinky and curling around him to provide additional warmth.

#

The clatter of test tubes and beakers, along with the collective murmurs of lab technicians, dragged Pinky into a state of semi-awareness. The noise and the bright lights caught his attention for the most part, splitting his head in two. Or so it seemed.

His eyes watered as the intense colors burned his retinas, so he shut them tightly, wishing he could shut out the cacophony of sounds just as easily. His fur was sticky and damp, the skin beneath it felt hot enough to roast marshmallows over. Another heat source beside him didn't help this irritation, so Pinky rolled away from it, biting back a cry of pain as he jostled his right leg. It throbbed in time with his head, but he didn't have the energy to do anything about it.

Eventually he could ignore the ringing in his ears and fell back asleep, breaths soft and shallow as his body unconsciously fought whatever ailment plagued him.

He didn't stir again for a long time.

* * *

><p>Written with assistance from StarShineDC! She took care of some of Brain's scenes that were giving me some difficulty, and helped me push through this piece even when I thought it was crap xD Thank you, lovely!<p>

This is the fic where I discovered that basically all my ideas stem from this question: "How can I make Brain willingly cuddle with Pinky?" and the rest is history xD

This is only a two-part story, so I'll update the rest of it fairly soon! Enjoy!


	2. Part 2

The Brain was most certainly not panicking. There was no cause for panic. Certainly not over Pinky, who despite being the most co-dependent creature on the planet was also fairly capable of taking care of himself when the need arose. Feeling confusion? Yes, that was acceptable. Concern? At this point, Brain wouldn't begrudge his friend a little concern. But full blown panic? Nonsense.

He wanted to yank his paw back immediately upon placing it against Pinky's brow, yet he let his touch linger, if only to solidify the fact that the other mouse was not getting better. The constant sleep wasn't accomplishing anything. Brain could even swear that Pinky felt even warmer than he had yesterday.

While he had yet to experience one, The Brain was well-aware that fevers were a sign that the body was fighting off some kind of infection or virus. It was an important part of the healing process. But knowing that and watching his closest friend experience it were two completely different things. It didn't help that Pinky looked haggard and worn out from doing nothing except lie there.

He attempted to dislodge the lump in his throat, that seemed to have become permanent over the past few days, with a few forced cough before he moved his paw to Pinky's shoulder. He nudged him gently, careful not to cause him more distress, and called out to him. "Pinky? Pinky, wake up."

A part of him felt guilty for awakening him, after all he surely needed all the rest he could get and it was most likely the only time he found relief from his symptoms. But another part, the part that saved a age-old drawing, the part that waited for Pinky to return on the night that started all this, the part that called him his friend, that part desperately needed to see the blue of his eyes and hear the tics present in Pinky's speech pattern. He needed to see that Pinky was still there.

"Pinky," he urged, his voice rising just slightly when his companion didn't stir, in case it was too quiet before. "I normally wouldn't want to disturb you, but..." He wracked his brilliant mind for some sort of rationalization to hide behind. "You need to drink more water. Yes. So, wake up, Pinky."

Still nothing. As Brain's gaze swept over Pinky, icy fear gripped his heart in a vice. Was he even breathing? Brain dropped down and placed his ear beside Pinky's mouth, the tension that coiled in his tense muscles eased as he felt the light puffs of air against his fur. He sighed, placing a paw to his forehead as he shook his large cranium wearily. Willing his heart to start again, The Brain got to his feet and took the thimble in hand.

One thing he could do would be to lower the fever. Then perhaps Pinky would awaken easier. Brain set about refilling the thimble with water, as well as procuring a clean piece of tissue to act as a soaking cloth to cool Pinky's brow. With the scientists about there was not much else he could do, his only assets being what was available to him in their cage.

Despite his rationalizations and self-assurance that it was for the best Pinky continue to sleep, the lack of consistency with what he'd come to know as being the norm with Pinky unnerved him. With the water from the thimble, he lightly splashed some of the cool liquid on the sleeping mouse's face. After a moment or two, Pinky's nose wiggled and his lids lifted to reveal unfocused, blue eyes. For a while, Pinky merely stared at the sardine tin for it was right in his line of sight, but eventually he glanced up to look at Brain.

The smile was so weak, it had no place being on the face of a mouse so effervescent as Pinky. No laughter bubbling out or infuriating 'narf's or the brightness that the childish mouse's grins usually contained. But it was for Brain, and it touched him like none of his other expressions ever had.

Trying to school his face to reflect nothing more than stern objectivity, which most likely failed since that lump of emotion in his throat had yet to dissipate, he took a clean tissue scrap and began to pat dry Pinky's face. "Good to see you awake, Pinky." He ignored the way his voice cracked on 'awake'. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, Brain..." Both mice knew he was lying, but neither did anything to correct him. "Still sleepy..."

"An atypical phenomena considering how much you've already rested." Brain attempted to make light of the situation, folding his arms behind his back while averting his gaze.

Pinky sniffed, Brain handed him another tissue. "Sorry, Brain... I don't mean to be. Poit."

Of course, now he felt absolutely wretched, the melancholy in Pinky's tone was like rubbing alcohol into an exposed wound. "No, Pinky, I- there's no need to be sorry. Sleep as much as you need to." He rubbed his forehead, the urge to bop something was overwhelming.

"But... what about taking over the world?" Perhaps he was getting better if he was capable of remembering the usual agenda for their evenings, even if his physical appearance still had him resembling more of a creature from those asinine late night movies he was so fond of watching. Even now, he looked utterly miserable. "I can't help if I'm sleeping."

"Don't fret now, Pinky. I'm not going to take over the world without you." The Brain reassured his companion, patting his paw in a placating manner.

"Promise?"

Brain swallowed past the lump, how could he refuse such a pathetic plea? "I promise."

Pinky's tail, though limp and pale like a cooked noodle, managed to flop back and forth for a few seconds, his eyes closed again as he sighed. "Naaarf."

The cooling cloth slipped off his forehead. Brain took hold of it, noting it had grown accustomed to Pinky's body temperature, and dipped it once again in the thimble. Wringing it between his paws, he got most of the excess water out and replaced in on Pinky. A contented murmur escaped the mouse, his cheeks flushed with the combination of feverish and cool.

Brain poured out the water in the thimble, it just so happened to ruin the scientist's notes that had been set on the counter next to their cage, but that wasn't on purpose (well, maybe a little, he couldn't help being a tiny bit vindictive at times, but he was the future leader of the world, he was allowed to be). He refilled the thimble with fresh water, then carried it back over to the sickly mouse.

As he approached, he caught sight of the red injection site on Pinky's right leg. His grip on the thimble tightened as his entire body tensed. Anger flooded his senses, all he could see was red. How dare those humans do this to him? What was their twisted game? What did they possibly gain from making his cagemate so sick? His desire to become the supreme ruler of the world only burned brighter, for at least then he could be in a position to prevent such injustices from taking place.

With him in charge, no one would dare hurt Pinky.

Shaking away the rush of fury, Brain took a deep breath and knelt down by Pinky's side. "Sit up, Pinky. You need to drink more fluids."

Pinky shook his head, more like a slight lean to the left but Brain got the message nonetheless. "No, 'm too tired, Brain."

"I'm not asking you to run a marathon, Pinky. Or even stand up." Brain quipped, not in the mood to argue with the sick mouse. "I understand that you're exhausted, but this will only take a moment of your time."

A low grumble issued from Pinky's throat, taking Brain aback, though the words that followed still retained their usual whiny quality. "No, Brain."

"We don't have time for your foolishness, right yourself immediately." His patience was wearing thin.

"You... right yourself." Pinky huffed out, a juvenile remark that really meant nothing, but it tipped Brain over the edge.

"This isn't up for debate, Pinky!" Brain snapped, "Sit up or I shall have to hurt you!" Immediately after the words flew from his mouth he regretted them. He winced just as Pinky did, clearly the taller of the two still had a headache and Brain didn't blame him. He was feeling one creep on as well. "I'm sorry, Pinky, but you have to drink this. You're dehydrated and your body can't fight the infection properly unless you have some water in you."

Opening one eye to peer at his caretaker, Pinky slowly processed the words. Even though it took some time, Brain was fairly certain that his companion hadn't understood a good portion of what he said. Finally, Pinky came to a decision and shut his eye once again.

Brain bristled. Pinky was ignoring him? In any other situation he would've bopped the simpleton on the head, but after counting to three mentally, the urge melted away. He had to cut him some slack, feeling so poorly for so long had to be making him cranky. Rubbing a paw over his face, he pondered how else he could possibly persuade Pinky to at least sip at the water.

It was degrading... his reluctance and pride warred with the concern that started following him like a little black raincloud, but he supposed he had no choice...

Groaning inwardly, he set down the thimble. With both paws free, he took one of Pinky's and lifted it up just slightly, enough to get his attention. Even though he didn't open his eyes, the twitch of his right ear gave him away. Brain rolled his eyes at Pinky's stubbornness, before clearing his throat lightly.

"Pinky?" The ear twitched again as he spoke quietly. He gave his paw a gentle squeeze. "Please?"

Brain had to marvel at how a simple word could get a mouse to change his mind. It had worked on him numerous times, though it usually took a lot of pleases for Pinky to get what he wanted and Brain gave in more out of annoyance, but nevertheless, it still worked. Opening both eyes, Pinky looked at him with a watery gaze before concentration overtook him. Brain took over assisting him in sitting upright, though it was more sideways really, but it was good enough.

Almost half of the thimble was drained before Pinky's lips slipped from the edge, water dribbling down his chin. "Narf..."

Brain removed the make-shift cup from Pinky's mouth and traded it for another clean tissue. He dabbed at the wet fur as Pinky sniffled, then held it against his nose for him to blow into. Tossing it to the side with a cringe, he helped lower his friend so he could rest on his back.

"I'm sorry, Brain, you don't have to right yourself." Pinky blubbered, dismayed over his not-quite-an-insult insult.

Patting his knee, Brain waved it away. "It's no matter, Pinky, I was hardly offended."

This seemed to satisfy him, snuggling up next to Brain as he rearranged the blanket over him. Pinky's limbs may have ached, his stomach may have been sloshy, his head may have been throbbing, and his body couldn't decide if it was hot or cold, but at least The Brain was there. Just that knowledge alone made him feel loads better. Well, in his mind at any rate. His body still felt the same.

"Is there anything you need?" Brain inquired, not that he could get much for him with the lab still being open, but he felt it was pertinent to ask. "More blankets? Food?"

At the mention of food, Pinky reacted in two different manners. His face scrunched up in a half-hearted attempt at disgust while his stomach growled loudly. The pair glanced down at his belly, Brain arched an eyebrow while Pinky just appeared weary.

"Oh no, Brain!" He moaned as the shorter mouse got up and strolled over to fetch some food pellets. "I'm not hungry... I won't eat them..." He clamped his mouth shut just to prove his point.

Food pellets in hand, Brain stood over the feverish mouse. Pinky blinked at him tearfully, lacking the energy to move away. Snapping a small portion of the pellet off, Brain offered it to Pinky who whimpered piteously while his stomach continued to protest this hunger strike.

"Please, Pinky?"

"Naaaarf..."

#

Quite pleased with himself, he was actually starting to get the hang of looking after a stubborn, cranky, delusional Pinky, Brain smirked at the half eaten food pellet and the empty thimble. After forcing the dry pieces of pellet down, he had requested more water which Brain could not deny him, especially with a thimble still half full. Turning his attention back to his friend, he looked into the half-lidded blue eyes practically radiating fatigue. While pleased that he'd gotten Pinky to eat something, he gleaned no pleasure in making his friend miserable. His claims of nausea (in the eloquent form of "my tummy's sloshy washy yucky ducky") were what finally got Brain to cease his force-feeding and allow Pinky to go back to sleep.

If not for the fact that Pinky needed the nutrients in the food, Brain wouldn't have made such a fuss over it.

"Thank you, Brain." Pinky mumbled, fighting to keep his eyes open.

Brain frowned, puzzled by the gratitude when only moments ago Pinky was accusing him of being mean and making him do things when he just wanted to sleep. He knew Pinky didn't mean it, it actually amused him slightly, the names Pinky uttered when cranky and less coherent than usual tickled him rather than infuriate him. Watching him bury his face into the blanket, Brain cleared his throat. "Yes, well, you're welcome, Pinky."

"You're taking real good care of me..." A yawn punctuated his observation, a drowsy smile stretched across his face. "You're my bestest, besty, best friend."

Bringing his fist to his mouth, Brain coughed his emotions out and drew his composure back. "W-well, I need you at your best for when I try to take over the world. I can't have a sluggish associate hampering my conquest."

"Slugs are snails without their shells."

Brain's lips twitched upwards at the familiar inanity. "Of course they are. Now, get some rest, Pinky."

"Stay with me?" He was already half-asleep, the plea trailing off.

His sleepy companion would not know one way or the other, nor would he most likely recall asking that he stay. And yet...

Getting up only to procure his list of potential illnesses Pinky might have and scraps of blank paper along with his pencil, The Brain assumed his position seated beside his friend. Pinky nuzzled closer, sensing the warm body beside him, and Brain allowed him to cushion his flushed cheek on his lap. His temperature still spurred on uneasiness, much too hot, whatever little brains Pinky had before must surely have broiled by now.

Absently, he brushed aside some of the matted fur hanging in Pinky's eyes, running his fingers through it in an attempt to untangle it.

He'd been so focused on his companion, the creak of the cage door opening startled the large headed mouse. The two scientists who'd seen fit to take Pinky away only to return him sick and disoriented loomed over their cage. The female's hand reached in, making a beeline for Pinky. The Brain glared and wrapped his arms around him, baring his teeth for good measure.

"Easy, little guy." She tried to calm him by using a higher pitched frequency for her voice, but Brain knew better. He was onto her game. "We just want to check on your friend, okay? He doesn't look too good."

"How did you get your degree?" Brain muttered under his breath. "Of course he 'doesn't look too good', you injected him with your poisonous virus. Commandeering his body for your own scientific gain."

"What's that cagemate doing?" Glasses asked of his companion, adjusting the spectacles perched on his nose as he eyed the lab mouse warily.

She rolled her eyes. "He's obviously protecting him. Look, we've made his friend sick, I'm sure he can sense that. He's been doting on him all afternoon."

"Doting? Nonsense. I've done nothing of the kind." Brain glowered. Wishing the pair of idiots would just let them be.

"I'm telling you, he's not sick. This is how normal mice should act." Glasses scoffed, ignoring both sets of glares he was on the receiving end of.

Normal? Really, is that what he thought this was? Brain had seen more activity in saw dust than in his normally peppy Pinky. This was not normal behavior for any mouse, let alone one who had his genes spliced. Pinky hardly drank, could barely bring himself to eat, and hadn't even moved from this spot in over a day! Unconsciously, his hold grew tighter, cradling his helpless cagemate against him.

"Brain..." Pinky hummed in his sleep, his nose pressed against the fur of his chest.

"Hush, Pinky." He whispered in his ear, eyes never leaving the scientists.

They appeared to be at odds with one another, for that Brain was grateful. They were clearly distracting each other from whatever task they had come to enact on Pinky. The female scientist removed her hand from the cage, folding her arms across her chest. "He's not eating or drinking, and he clearly has a fever. We need to run some more tests, the drug we administered didn't work, he's not epileptic."

Glasses looked from his colleague to the mice, still unwilling to admit that an issue had occurred with their specimen. "I suppose he doesn't seem 100% just yet, a few tests couldn't hurt."

Brain locked eyes with the scientist as he glowered, satisfied when he saw the man shudder and remove his glasses to clean the lenses. He could easily keep them away, his intelligence and wit had outmatched them before, it could do so here as well. Feeling the heat of his companion, his eyes narrowed. It was of the utmost necessity here.

Unfortunately, as he was intimidating the male scientist, he did not notice the female approach a second time until Pinky began to slip from his grasp. "Pinky!"

The movements jostled him from his sleep. "Brain...?" He garbled, looking up only to find himself staring at a human woman. "Brain?" His voice hitched as he felt a pair of arms tighten around his chest.

"Come on little guy, it's okay." She cooed, unsettling one mouse and enraging the other.

"How dare she speak to me in such a condescending manner." He groused, refusing to relinquish his hold.

But Pinky was slipping away.

"It hurts, Brain." Pinky whimpered.

While Brain's determination sufficiently overpowered that of the scientist's, her size put this 'tug-of-war' match in her favor. She plucked them both up, since the large headed mouse was adamant in hanging on, but detached him from his cagemate and handed Pinky off to Glasses.

"Brain?" Pinky sniffled, squinitng his eyes as they watered from the lights and excitement. He could barely hear his own voice over the rushing of blood in his head. The male scientist didn't handle him so gently, rubbing against the irritated injection mark without a second thought. "OW!"

The female scientist glared at him as she heard the poor thing squeak out in agony. "Careful with him, he's not just some test tube you know." The smaller mouse she'd kept in her hands, started as he heard his cagemate cry out. "He's going to be alright, don't worry."

She placed him back in the cage, he appeared to be sulking, and locked the door as her colleague left the room. The Brain paced in agitation, shaking his head irritably. "'Alright.' Yes, always, of course. He certainly came back 'alright' after he last spent any length of time in your presence. Fools, what kind of an imbecile do they take me for?"

Fueling the fire of his irritation masked the chill of dread freezing in his bones. But this one niggling thought, a memory from one of the more complicated, and potentially harmful, mazes the pair had been put through, plagued him. One of the scientists had simply said: _"They're just lab mice. We can always get more."_

Yes... to the humans they were replaceable. All they required was a pair of creatures willing to run their insipid experiments. It didn't matter if the mice they'd been using for the past year or so died. Mice had a short life span, of course they would eventually meet their demise. Brain was aware of his life span, but being two years old, he figured he... they had plenty of time.

But he had yet to take illness into account.

The scientists wouldn't try their best to ensure Pinky's survival, what was the dim-witted mouse to them? Pinky wasn't their cagemate, their associate, their confidant... their best friend. If they couldn't fix whatever they did to the little mouse... Brain gulped, his hands instinctively going to his chest, they'd probably go to the pet store and pick up a new mouse. After they used that needle to stop Pinky's heart, to put him out of his misery, so to speak... he'd seen it before. It had been a dreadful subject to broach with Pinky, who'd been with him and quite confused when one of the gerbils across the lab was put to sleep, now made even more unbearable at the thought of the blue eyed mouse alone and frightened with that needle approaching...

Brain slapped his paws against his head. It was a cold! Or the flu, whatever! Pinky was most certainly not going to die, he was overreacting! He dug the heels of his palms against his eyes, trying to pry that mental image from his mind. Slouching against the bars of the cage, he settled for merely rubbing his temples as he caught a glimpse of their empty beds surrounded by scraps of tissue and an empty thimble.

It would be quite the wait.

Unfortunately, Brain was dismayed to see that three hours later, when the lab closed up for the night, his friend was not returned to him. Completely unacceptable. Not bothering to take the time to concoct an elaborate escape plan, he simply used his tail to pick the lock. He'd find Pinky himself, it would not be a difficult task, he'd managed it before.

After all, he was the only one who..._ tolerated_ Pinky enough to properly look after him in his time of need.

#

Sure enough, after only an hour of searching, Brain located Pinky in the part of the lab that focused on immunizations. As he hoisted himself on to the table where a small cage rested, he breathed a sigh of relief as he took in the sight of his friend. Quashing the relief down, Brain attempted to nonchalantly stroll over the the bars.

Pinky was awake, his blue eyes no longer as dull as they had been earlier and his coat wasn't that unsettling shade of gray. His face was still flushed and he still sniffled, but as Brain came closer, he realized the sniffling was due to tears. His left leg also sported a shaved patch, bright red and swollen from where a second needle must have injected him. The Brain went straight for the door, picking up a stray paperclip along the way, and unlocked it.

"Pinky?" He called out, softly just in case the other mouse's headache still lingered.

Blue eyes lit up, the traces of melancholy fled and sniffling ceased. His ears twitched in Brain's direction and his gaze followed suit. "Brain!" A familiar, though still not up to par, joviality coated Pinky's voice as he raised head and smiled at his cagemate. "You came to rescue me!"

The fact that the other mouse sounded much better took Brain's stress levels back down to normal, for it seemed that his friend would be quite alright. "Yes, well, while I wouldn't use that terminology, I did come to check on you seeing as your health is not ideal as of right now." He cleared his throat, feeling foolish for all of his irrational worrying, though the relief still managed to overpower it. How did Pinky get this power? The ability to reduce him to states such as these? "You look much better."

"Oh, I feel much better!" Pinky assured him, moving to stand up yet wincing as he put weight on his injured legs. "Except they made my leg hurt again. And I'm really hungry. And I feel all wibble-wobble when I stand up." As he said this, he swayed on the spot, losing his balance to fall flat on his face. "Narf!"

"Don't overexert yourself, Pinky." Brain reprimanded as he assisted in righting the fumbling mouse. "Just because you're on the road to recovery does not mean that you can, how do you say, 'run around silly-willy'."

"Don't be silly, Brain. I wouldn't dream of running around feeling like this, I'm just trying to stand up." He corrected, rubbing his eyes.

"Yes. Of course." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he should've anticipated that he'd miss the point entirely, choosing to place his paw against Pinky's forehead. It was still warm, though he supposed if the infection was being forced out of his companion's system then his body would still retain the fever. He took comfort in the fact that it was considerably less so than the blistering furnace Pinky had been imitating thus far.

The Brain looked past his paw at Pinky. The other mouse had closed his eyes as he leaned into the touch, his lips scrunched together in an attempt to hide his smile, but the corners betrayed him as did his tail which swished from side to side. Brain shook his head, mildly irritated by his lack of concern for himself as well as fond of his return to typical Pinky behavior. Though he'd rather not have to admit that last bit to anyone, to be fond of inanity did not necessarily speak volumes of his sanity.

He ran his fingers through Pinky's fur and gently rubbed for a moment before retracting his hand. Pinky giggled clasping his paws over his mouth as he squirmed. His cagemate was a strange creature indeed.

"Come, Pinky. Let us return to our cage so that you can continue to rest and I can prepare for this weekend." Brain helped Pinky to his feet, allowing the taller mouse to use him as a crutch.

Pinky tilted his head. "Why? What's happening this weekend?"

As they left the temporary cage, Brain paused to collect some vitamin C pills he spied on the counter as well as some fever reducing and de-congestion medication. "Providing that you continue to recover at the rate you are presently, my friend, you should be healthy enough by this weekend to join me in our next scheme to take over the world!"

While the reaction was much more subdued than usual, excitement still filled Pinky's eyes at the notion of returning to their nightly routine. "I'll try really hard to get better, Brain. I know how much you want to take over the world."

"I-" What a stupidly, big-hearted fool his Pinky was. Brain wrapped his arm around Pinky's waist to better steady him, grateful that he did not have to look him in the eyes. Yes, he did regret the lost time they had accumulated over the past few nights, but he could be patient. Taking a few nights off from scheming was a hardly a sacrifice when it came to Pinky's health. "Please do, Pinky."

#

She almost dropped her coffee cup when she saw the empty cage, her spirits dropping as she realized the implications of the missing mouse. The scientist shuffled down the hall, not even bothering to greet her colleague as he passed her down the hall. While he was just a mouse, it upset her that it was because of their doing that he had not made it through the night. She should've figured just as well, his little heart had slowed so much due to the depressant, she knew if they had not taken him to give him the drug to reverse his symptoms last night, he wouldn't have made it to morning. Not that it didn't make much of a difference now.

Entering the lab where his cagemate still resided, she cringed as she recalled how close the two mice were. In all the tests they ran on the pair, not once had they willingly separated. They would replace the deceased mouse, of course, but she knew the living one would be able to tell the difference.

As she stood above his cage, her eyes widened as she realized he wasn't alone. The one with the large head glared up at her, comfortably resting beside his sleeping cagemate. "How did...?" She shook her head, swearing that she saw the smaller mouse smirk at her.

The Brain watched her leave to mingle with the other humans in their lab, satisfied that he essentially one-upped her. Pinky rolled over in his sleep, the blanket bunching around his waist as he released a few quiet 'narfs'. Brain adjusted the blanket over his shoulders once again then leaned against him as he continued to scribble new ideas on a scrap of paper. 

* * *

><p>AN: The end! For now…

I realize belatedly that some of my small, pretty unnoticeable references to my first chaptered fic "Friends?" – which is my own take on how Pinky and Brain met and bonded (as babies! Now everyone say "awwwwww" okay, good). I mean, they're not really that noticeable, but I probably should have uploaded that first. It's just so long (10 chapters plus an epilogue) that I wanted to get these up first.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed "In Sickness and In Schemes"!


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